MILWAUKEE — Minutes after he was hired as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Milwaukee, Bart Lundy established a foundation for the Panthers men’s basketball program.
“We have one over-riding philosophy,” Lundy told me as we played a game of H.O.R.S.E.
“We’re going to do things the right way. We’re going work as hard as we can work. We’re going lay our head down on the pillow that night knowing that we did the best we could do for that day. We’re going wake up the next day and we’re gonna do it again. And then we’re going to stack good days on top of each other.”
Lundy’s philosophy comes to Milwaukee after being honed at Queens University, a division-two school in Charlotte, North Carolina where Lundy was the Head Coach from 1998-2003 and again from 2013-2022 amassing a combined record of (337-102).
“We went out trying to find guys that could live that,” Lundy said of his recruiting efforts in rebuilding the Panthers program. “We scoured the country.”
From Atlanta to Phoenix, New York to New Mexico, the Panthers roster features an eclectic mix of seventeen players – most of whom played basketball somewhere else last season.
“We got a great University. We’re about to open a practice facility that’s phenomenal. We play in a legendary downtown arena. So there’s a lot of good things to sell.”
The team’s play has awoken a fanbase that has been pining for a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.
“I really didn’t think in those terms,” Lundy said when I asked if his goal was to reach the Big Dance in year-one.
“I thought let’s put a product out here that these fans will enjoy, that’s fun to watch. Let’s recruit guys that are engaging and that are fun…get the fanbase energized, because it had died out a little bit.”
Fans are buying-in to the program’s direction, and the players are buying-in to each other.
“We went to Purdue and Iowa State, and then we lost here [Milwaukee] to St. Thomas. I started to realize these guys really hate to lose…which as a coach might be the best quality you can look for.”
Evidence of the Panthers never-give-up attitude was on display in a recent road game at Northern Kentucky in which the Panthers trailed by 20 at the first media timeout of the second half.
“You’re down 20. It is what it is. You can pack your tents up, fold ’em up and we’ll be done, or you can go play.”
Northern Kentucky was the pre-season favorites to win the Horizon League.
The Panthers, who were projected to finish ninth in the conference, eeked out a 75-74 win.
“One referee was beside me before we started the second half and I said ‘Hey man, you know we’re going to win this game, right? We’re coming back to win this game,’ and he looked at me like I was insane.”
Was it a galvanizing moment?
“I did the gritty after the game in the locker room, and that proves it because no one wants to see it and I’m not very good at it. I think it could be something that propels this team to the end.”
The Panthers have already eclipsed their win total from last season and are being projected as the Horizon League’s representative in the NCAA Tournament. Lundy’s Panthers are no strangers to elevated competition.
“We’ve played some big boys. We know what it looks like. But when you get to that NCAA Tournament, the big boys never play a Milwaukee not on their home floor.”
Big Dance or not, Lundy has quickly flipped the script on a program that fell far short of expectations in 2021-22 and is blowing expectations out of the water in 2022-23.
“We’re trying to make Milwaukee, the University and the city proud.”
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